Rain interrupts King of the Diamonds

Rain gave way momentarily yesterday, giving each team competing in the second round of the 2005 King of the Diamonds a chance at taking the field.

None of the teams, however, were able to hit harder than Mother Nature, who showered the Dandan Softball Field and reduced the venue into a giant mud puddle, which in turn limited the tournament to just three complete games.

In the opener, the Salty Boyz were given a tough task but still managed to squeeze enough juice to drive Manhoben to the losers’ bracket.

Salty Boyz took advantage of several defensive miscues and advanced to the winners’ bracket with a 12-7 victory.

Shortly after, Par D Pak put on an offensive show, heating up the wet and cool field with a bunch of smacks en route to crushing Brotherhood, 27-8.

Par D Pak began their charge the way they wanted, unloading five runs in the top of the first inning.

Brotherhood responded in the bottom half and knotted the score at five apiece, but as the score indicates, the rest of the bout belonged to Tony Celis, Elias Saralu, Byrone Kaipat and the Par D Pak family, who went Anatahan on the opposition, outscoring Brotherhood, 22-3, to advance.

Salty Boys were back in action in the third game of the day, facing fellow first-round returnee Survivors.

Salty Boys hung tough, but did not have the same success they tasted earlier in the day, as the Survivors found a way to survive and advance with an 8-6 victory.

First-round champion No Ka Oi was next to see action, facing Par D Pak in the fourth bout of the day.

The two teams were even at a run apiece in the second inning when heavy rains forced officials to call off the game.

Tournament coordinator Newman Techur said action might resume this evening at the Tan Ge Softball Field. However, he has to verify with the Division of Sports and Recreation as to the availability of the facility.

“I’m drafting a letter that will be submitted [this morning] for usage of the field,” he said yesterday. “If we can’t use it, then we’ll keep pushing it back until we can.”

Techur said action begins at 6:30pm on a date that will be determined depending on the field availability.

Techur, however, added that the only reason games are being moved to the Tan Ge field is because the Dandan field cannot accommodate night games. He added that even if the Tan Ge field is available, rain may hamper resumption of play.

No Kai Oi and Par D Pak will be first to hit the field in continuation of their bout. The winner will face Survivors in the winners’ bracket finals. Whoever wins the winners’ bracket will automatically head into the championship game.

Meanwhile, Manhoben is scheduled to take on Brotherhood, with the loser dropping out of the tournament. The Salty Boys will face the loser of the No Ka Oi-Par D Pak bout.

Also, Techur reiterated that the no-homerun rule has made the tournament very competitive.

“It kind a levels the playing field, so it does make it more competitive,” he said. “We’ve been playing softball on Saipan for so long that there are a lot of very good players. There were a lot of outstanding plays [yesterday], in the outfield and infield.”

Each team hitting a homerun will not be entitled to 20 extra points at the end of the tournament.

Whoever comes up on top of the second round receives baseball bags and trophies.

The King of the Diamonds consists of three rounds of play and top honors are earned by way of a points system. The second round was originally scheduled to unfold on Saturday, however, was pushed back due to heavy showers.

No Ka Oi outslugged eight other teams a couple of months ago to win the first round. The team currently leads the standings with 275 points, followed by Brotherhood at 200, Salty Boys with 175, Survivors with 150, Party Pack with 125, Manhoben with 120, Flyers with 105, and Natibu with 95.

Points each team earns depend on rankings after the tournament, while additional points are added if a team does not hit a home run, allows the least number of runs, or scores the most runs.

The third round is expected to be held sometime in mid-October.

The team with the most points after the three rounds will earn a trip to the King of the Diamonds Grand Finale in Palau from Nov. 10 to 14. The competition will feature Saipan’s top gun, as well as the champions from Palau and Guam slugging it out for supremacy.

All teams must abide by the rules set in place by the organizers. All rules are standard to that of the rules being used in the Palau and Guam King of the Diamonds tourneys.

Interested teams can register at MARPAC in Gualo Rai. For more information, contact Techur at 234-0173 or Jojo Camacho or Melvin Tenorio at MARPAC.